Riding for Bailey's permanent diabetes vacation!

I dropped my youth ambassador (aka Bailey) off at diabetes camp yesterday. Bailey is my daughter who was diagnosed with diabetes at 18 months old. This is Bailey's second year going to camp. She really enjoyed it last year so I am hoping the same for her this year. Anyhow, we really learned to appreciate what camp meant for Bailey. Sure it was a typical summer camp with all the activities and such but it really is a lot more than that for Bailey. It is her "diabetes vacation" because she is well taken care of by her "med. staff" as she calls it. The med staff includes doctors, nurses, medical students, dietitians, etc. They pretty much take care of all her needs related to having diabetes which allows her freedom to enjoy normal activities. It is very comforting for us to know she is well taken care of as well!

Another thing that diabetes camp does for Bailey is it allows a very painfully shy young lady become a social butterfly. When I asked her why she was so different at camp, she said "because we already had something in common."

This year Bailey told her "med. staff" that she is willing to learn how to change her own pump sites. She learned last year that she was pretty much the only kid that didn't do it on their own. Can you imagine placing a one inch needle in your skin at a 45 degree angle and removing it leaving a cannula in it's place? These kids are as young as 7 years old! I think Bailey is behind the curve because she was diagnosed at a very young age. I told her that I am willing to change her site because the pessimistic side of me thinks she has a lifetime of doing this on her own. But thankfully we have organizations like JDRF and people like you that are fighting to put an end to a lifetime of daily monitoring. Fighting for Bailey's permanent diabetes vacation!

Ride Happy!
Sam